With the Maximus VIII Gene, ASUS shows their next generation ATX gaming and overclocking motherboard, which is based on Intel's latest Z170 chipset. Like it's predecessor this board wants to convince with a balanced feature mix, which pleases overclockers as well as gamers. At this point we're very curious to find out what ASUS has come up with regarding layout, design and obviously features.

So last week was basically all about budget gaming with our first R7 370 review as well as the launch of the GTX 950. Well this week isn’t going to be any different. Today I’m going to take a look at another R7 370, this time the Asus Strix 4GB model. This gives us a chance to compare the Sapphire that I previously took a look and find out how the cards compare. It also is a good chance to see where the R7 370 sits now that the GTX 950 is out. To sit back and I’m going to see what the Asus R7 370 Strix 4GB has going on and then how it performs.

Prices for solid state drives have fallen precipitously over the past year. This is especially true when shopping 2.5-inch form factor SATA SSDs, which is where some of the best values in solid state storage are currently found. That's certainly true of Micron's Crucial brand MX200 line, two of which we have in for review here.

First announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this year, the MX200 series debuted in three capacities -- 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB, each priced at under 50 cents per gigabyte. Crucial set the MSRPs at $140 for the 250GB model, $250 for the 500GB SKU, and $470 for the 1TB drive, all three of which are available for considerably less online...

Today we are looking at a first for 'fans' of computer fans – a design from Deepcool's Gamer Storm brand which features 2-layer blades. Due to this subtle change the blades on the impellers of these fans look like the spoilers on race cars. The question is, do they have any impact? We will be looking closely at this fan.

Deepcool have this to say:

TF 120 series feature unique patented 2-layer blade design to offer a powerful air pressure, the scientific channelized frame to reduce the noise arose by the whirlpool of airflow, and semi-hermetic Fluid Dynamic Bearing solution to power MTBF up to 100,000 hours. The TF120 series fan’s advanced detachable blade design to give more color choice built-in 3-proof functions (Dustproof, Waterproof, Oil-leakage proof), which satisfy your DIY enthusiasm to build a unique rig.

Once upon a time I used to be very interested in finding the perfect media player. I tested lots of different devices and reviewed a bunch on this site. But the last few years a new breed of devices have cropped up: the small media streamers that lets you stream from your computer, tablet or phone to the device and to the TV. The most popular such devices of course are the Apple TV and the Google Chromecast but there actually exist a lot of other similar devices that in some cases can do more than the “big names”. The EZCast Pro HDMI Mirror2TV stick we are looking at today is one of those.

Do you have a game PC aged a few years? Then it may be time to upgrade. We found out what you can expect when you upgrade a 2,5 year- or 5 year-old PC to a state-of-the-art model. The differences in performance and image quality are impressive.

When Intel introduces a new generation of processors, you can read at hardware.info how much faster they are than the Core i5s and i7s from previous generations. We always do this when there are new components on the market. Some time ago however, one of our readers asked us to not only review separate components, but also complete configurations. The concrete question: when you switch a gaming PC aged a few years for a state-of-the-art model, what will you get for your money? We found this question interesting enough to discuss it extensively.

The results you can read in this article, in which we compare a modern, luxurious gaming PC with models of 2,5 and 5 years old, priced equally at their time of release. We don't only focus on performance, but also on differences in graphics quality. Anticipating the rest of this review, it (obviously) turns out that you can play current and older games with much better 3D effects than on a machine aged a few years.

If you've ever witnessed variable refresh rate (VRR) technologies like G-Sync and FreeSync, then you likely know VRR one of the most significant gaming improvements in recent times. Now the technology has finally gone mobile.

Battery life is something we’ve always struggled with since computers became portable. With the release of Windows 10 Microsoft has introduced new features to help users get better battery life out of their devices. If you have upgraded recently to Windows 10 or have purchased a new device with Windows 10 installed here are some features and tips to get the most out of the battery life.

In May Fudzilla wrote about a Chinese manufacturer with an Atom X3-C3130 processor which was being sold on Geekbuying for $69.99. This small amount of cash bought a 7-inch 1024x600 IPS display, 512MB of LPDDR2, 4GB of eMMC storage and Android 4.4.4.Now a Polish company called Kiano is bringing the Atom X3 to the German, Austrian and Polish markets. We can assume it will be available in other EU markets soon.We haven't seen it available on any of the German price comparison engines but in Poland it sells for PLN 299.00 Zloty (€ 70.59). The tablet should start selling today from 2000 locations through-out Germany and Austria.

Earlier on in the year we took a look at the Logitech G302, the first mouse from the company to use its new spring tension system for more responsive button clicks. However, it did have some limitations with a low DPI setting and a lack of lighting customization.

Today, we are taking a look at the G302’s successor, the G303 Daedalus Apex, retaining that great spring tensioning system but upgrading the mouse sensor and throwing RGB lighting in to the mix.

CPU World has managed to dig up a few more details on the Core i3-6100 and Pentium G4400. These might give an inkling of what is coming in the Core i3 and Pentium lineup.The Core i3-6100 has two Hyper-Threaded cores and 4 MB of level 3 cache. The microprocessor supports AES and AVX2 instructions, VT-x, VT-d virtualisation, vPro, and Trusted Execution technology.

The i3-6100 has GT2 graphics which is branded as HD 530 and the GPU will run at 350 MHz. This will be clocked up to 1000 MHz.Apparently the G4400 will be positioned as a successor to the G3250 Haswell-Refresh processor. The "Skylake" version will have two CPU cores, 3 MB L3 cache, DDR3/DDR4 memory controller and GT1 GPU. Each core will be clocked at 3.3 GH.

The MSI GeForce GTX 950 Gaming comes with the company's famous TwinFrozr dual-fan cooling solution, which provides quieter than whisper-quiet noise levels in gaming, and completely turns off the fans in idle. The card is also rather affordable with just a $10 price premium.

With the Gaming M5, MSI has a well equipped motherboard in its portfolio, which comes with lots of features. There are for example two M.2 x4 Gen 3 slots and apart from that MSI further refined the Design of their Gaming series motherbards.

The hardest part of reviewing computer hardware is not the testing, it’s not even the deadlines. Over the years it has become the blank page and deciding which direction I’d like to take my opinions. Years ago I had no issues coming up with concepts, it seemed to flow naturally and before I even started I would have my introduction and conclusion for the most part figured out. Having written thousands of articles based on the hardware I tested it has become almost impossible not to repeat what I have once written. Falling back on what has worked and changing a few things around it comfortable. As much as hardware has changed over the years it still remains the same. A case is a case, an SSD is still an SSD and a motherboard is still a motherboard.

The latest GPU under the microscope. The GeForce GTX 950 GPU is one that will appeal to those of you who want to game at 1080p but don't have the budget to stretch to exotic cards such as the GTX 980 and Fury.

Cutting down on the present GTX 960's GM206 die is the not-so-secret method of constructing the GTX 950's DNA, and this new GPU's introduction serves as means of filling a rather obvious gap in Nvidia's mainstream arsenal.

We've already seen cards from Asus and EVGA, with both overclocking their respective efforts way past the reference specs laid down by Nvidia. PNY, usually more conservative in its approach, is next on the review table.

We’ve seen plenty of solid state drives over the past few years, and some basic unquestionable facts remain. First, they are remarkably fast. Second, and until somewhat recently, they have typically been available only in limited storage capacities. Lastly, prices continue to fall, making large capacities not only possible but more attractive to consumers. Buying a 128GB SSD used to be something many people aspired to, though most want something bigger, assuming the budget can support it. For those on a tight budget, the 128GB might be fine, but for those looking to loftier capacities, we have today’s subject of our review: the Samsung 850 EVO 2TB SSD.

We all know that storage capacities increase as prices decrease, and what was considered “large” not long ago is now considered “small” in terms of storage. Certainly this comes as no shock to anyone. So, why a 2TB SSD? Surely a 480GB SSD would be enough, no? Maybe, but when are we ever satisfied with “enough” when it comes to tech? Want to go big? Well, a 2TB SSD should be more than enough space to install plenty of games, guaranteeing superfast load times, and just about any other type of application that might feed off the speed. Photoshop on steroids? Sure. Lighning quick multi-tasking? Why not.

For a while there, companies like Palm and Microsoft insisted that the mark of a serious smartphone was the ability to write on it with a stylus. The industry seemingly changed its mind with the advent of capacitive touchscreens, and the stylus became something to scoff at, a holdover from antiquated operating systems like Windows Mobile and Palm OS. But then there's Samsung, which has been trying for years now to keep the idea alive with several versions of the Galaxy Note, a phablet that never quite felt or looked as nice as it should. Well, those days are over. The new Note 5 is the best big phone Samsung has made yet, and it just might make a believer out of a few naysayers.

You know how Apple invests a lot of effort into filming gorgeous-looking promotional videos for their overpriced products? And then, sometimes, they don't really think the products all the way through, so you may end up having to return it for repairs within weeks from splurging on them? We wrote about the issues with the camera on the iPhone 6 plus here.You know how Samsung was repeatedly accused of shamelessly coppying Apple for years? How there was even a multi billion dollar law suit and an almost equally large court sentence? Honestly, we thought that fining Samsung for going with rounded corners, just like Apple's, was a bit over the top, but now we're not sure if the companies aren't tied together more than we would have believed.

SilverStone recently sent us their SG12 small form-factor case for review, and along with it came a power supply from their Strider series, as well as a power supply cabling kit. The ST55F-G PSU resides in the Strider Gold S series of power supplies, and provides 550 watts in a compact design. The PP05-E cabling kit helps keep things tidy when it comes to PSU cabling, and is great when paired up with a SilverStone SUGO case and Strider PSU. Does this compact power source have what it takes to provide ample power to a modern SFF build, and does the cabling kit get that power where it needs to go, while at the same time keeping things organized? We think so.

When I think of an enthusiast PC a two things come to mind, large cases and complex hardware. Of course stereotypes are the reason for the association given that most enthusaists tend to overbuild their PCs. And while that may be a trend for every overbuilt system you see there is a good number that look very docile on the surface and suprise you in the end. For these types of builds you need a case that can not only deliver on the promise but also support a wide variety of hardware configurations.

In this review I’ll be looking at the Silverstone Sugo SG12. The Sugo series was first introduced in 2005 and quickly has become a standard for what defines the small form factor case. As you can imagine over the past 10 years computer hardware has changed and it is important for a case manufacturer to regularly update their popular case designs to support new trends and technology.

With the SISWOO C55, the manufacturer has created a device for users which are in need of larger screen sizes than the previous C50 while the performance has been also upgraded with a better SoC, now housing eight cores at 1.3GHz each. The camera quality does not disappoint and reaches the impressive levels of color detail which we have also seen with the C50, only that the focus may not be spot on sometimes. The battery has also suffered a small upgrade, but since we are now dealing with a more powerful SoC and a bigger screen size which both consume quite a bit of battery resources, the tests reveal a lower usage time versus the C50.

Gaming keyboards can be considered a dime a dozen, and really when you think of it, there are but a couple of things that are necessary: a solid build and great performance. Everything else can be considered luxuries. Today we have the privilege of reviewing a keyboard that we not only found to have mastered both of our credentials, but it did so unexpectedly!

Although working at a publication like HotHardware often involves tight deadlines and countless hours of benchmarking, product photography, and writing, plenty of fun activities get thrown into the mix as well.

Case in point--I came home from the Intel Developers Forum this past week to a pair of boxes that were begging to be torn open in an unboxing video. So, I that’s what I did. And what I found inside the boxes is the kind of stuff tech-enthusiasts drool over. Not only was there some killer hardware to ogle, but it was presented in a very unique way...check this out...

Whether you prefer desktops or laptops, buying a ready-made PC or building your own, there are all kinds of decisions to make. But the most important one of all sounds deceptively simple, and that's the choice of AMD or Intel.The processor family you choose will dictate many of the other features of your PC, and while they both do much the same thing they go about it in very different ways. So how do you choose?

A surprisingly proficient £129 smartphone. Wileyfox, a new UK-based smartphone manufacturer, has revealed its two debut products: the £129 Wileyfox Swift and £199 Wileyfox Storm. Despite the budget prices, these handsets will launch this autumn with some pretty respectable mid-range specs, including Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, 5in-plus displays and dual-SIM support.

Nonetheless, Wileyfox is banking on Cyanogen OS 12.1, an extensively customised skin for the base Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system, to make these smartphones stand out. We got our hands on the Wileyfox Swift to see whether this strategy is likely to pay off.